MARTYN PUGH
a period of four years, Martyn supplied some 50 pieces for the service, and although choosing not to make the cutlery in order to reserve his concentration for the major pieces, he still collaborated on the hand-forged cutlery’s’ design with its’ maker Darren Bowden. During the period the service was being made, the then recently graduated Tara Coomber was assisting him in the workshop. Martyn made sure her contribution would be recognised through the engraving in discreet places on a number of pieces the words ‘Tara Coomber helped make me’, which was a very nice touch. It is good to know that in an age when formal dining at home is generally declining in the United Kingdom, one British individual was prepared to commission a contemporary silver dining service – and use it. It has proved to be the largest such commission in the UK in recent years. Throughout his career, besides his workshop activities and being a father of two children, Martyn’s enthusiasm for his craft has been displayed in his involvement with several industry organisations. A founder member and vice-chair of Contemporary British Silversmiths, he went on to become the first designer/silversmith to be
MARTYN PUGH
Below: Dinner Service Courtesy A Private Collection, photographer Martyn Pugh Between 1999 and 2004, Martyn undertook what is believed to be one of the largest silverware commissions for a private client in the UK at this time – the design and making of a full sixty-piece dining service. The design was inspired by the black and silver plumage of the Silver Pheasant with its distinctive curving tail, a favourite species in the clients’ collection of rare pheasants. The forms of the service reflect similar flowing Bezier curves with black enamel, ebony and rock crystal elements. Designed to function around the clients’ specific dinner party hosting requirements, it comprises everything from meat-carving and fish platters, a bread basket, candelabra, coffee and tea services to claret jugs, underplates, condiment sets and sauce boats. Expressing Martyn’s philosophy of the importance of form and function, any piece of silver which sits on a stand or a tray has small neoprene rubber studs or ‘feet’ so that no damage occurs though metal on metal contact and the pieces cannot slide when carried. Inspired by the client’s connections with the Middle East, the water jugs are of silvermounted terracotta, a material that has been used for water-cooling vessels in hot countries for centuries. By way of natural evaporation through its pores, the temperature of the water inside the vessel drops as the temperature outside rises, keeping the water inside cool without the need for ice.
chairman of the British Jewellers Association, a member of the British Hallmarking Council and a warden of Birmingham Assay Office. Over recent years he has enthusiastically pushed the boundaries of his
Above: Orbit Tea Service Courtesy Martyn Pugh, photographer Lynda Medwell The Orbit Tea Service has its origins in 1998 when the teapot was entered into ‘Silver and Tea: a perfect blend’, a design competition and subsequent exhibition at Goldsmiths’ Hall. Martyn met the challenge of designing an elegant but necessarily squat form by the use of pure geometry – the sphere. His research revealed that the best tea is made in pots that have the largest surface open to the air and that the sphere is the most economic compact form for a given volume. He chose a semi-spherical form with an overhead handle providing perfect balance. He then tilted it for dramatic effect. In keeping with his belief that the pleasure of using something should equal its visual appeal, when lifted the teapot becomes horizontal and thus ‘pours the tea itself’. Designing the complete service in 1999, he continued the theme of the ‘purity of the circle’. The tilted milk jug and the more appropriately horizontal sugar bowl sit within the orbit of the silver studs inlaid in the ebonised wooden tray. The largest silver buttons form the tray’s feet and echo the knops and feet on each of the vessels, therefore forming a unified whole. The set has both style and humour. When seen it certainly has a WOW factor. Teapot height 15.5cm, capacity six cups (0.75l). Birmingham 2001
396
craft by combining the latest technology with traditional techniques to produce the largest objects yet made in palladium and 990 gold, a recently developed microalloy of titanium (1 per cent) and gold (99 per cent).
AVAILABILITY Martyn Pugh’s work is beginning to trickle on to the secondary market. Additionally, a few retailers stock his new work. In the late 1980s he designed for Garrard & Company Limited, but this work bears Garrard’s maker’s mark as opposed to his own, although most pieces have his logo stamped discreetly underneath the base. However, work he later undertook for Boodles bears his maker’s mark. For the Millennium he produced a full range of tableware as a limited edition series for George Pragnell of Stratford-upon-Avon bearing Pragnell’s maker’s mark but Martyn’s facsimile signature. Martyn still makes one of the largest ranges of contemporary silver in the UK and commissions may be placed direct with him. See Who’s Who in Gold and Silver, The Goldsmiths’ Company’s Directory at www.whoswhoingoldandsilver.com for his contact and website details.
397